When it comes to designing the look of Ben Affleck's Batman in Zack Snyder's upcoming Man of Steel sequel, we can assume that they are looking for two things: 1) to make the costume look as awesome as possible and 2) have it look different than all of the Batman designs we've seen before, particularly Christian Bale's from Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. Sadly it will likely be a while before we actually get to see the look that they come up with for the film, with the movie not even starting production until next year, but now a new rumor has surfaced that may give us some insight regarding what the filmmakers being the project are looking for.

Unnamed sources at Comic Book Movie are saying that the design team behind finding the new for the new Batman is currently hard at work nailing down the look for the new film, and that one possible source of inspiration - for the cowl at least - may be the 2011 graphic novel "Batman: Noel" from writer/illustrator Lee Bermejo (who also illustrated one of the most famous Joker stories in recent years). Check out a few images of the cowl below (I tried to capture it from multiple angles).

The same source also suggests that the team was also spent some time looking at the costume from the recently-released video games Injustice: Gods Among Us, but ultimately decided that it was too similar to the most recent live-action film incarnation of the character.

Before you all get too excited/upset about this news, allow me to throw a bucket of ice water on your lap. Anything even remotely related to the development of the Batman/Superman movie at Warner Bros. is under the most hardcore lock-and-key scenario you can think of. Of course it's not impossible for some tiny bits of information to leak out, but also take all unofficial news and rumors about the project with a sizable grain of salt.

In addition to Affleck's Batman, the untitled movie is set to see the return of Henry Cavill as Superman, as well as Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, and Diane Lane as Martha Kent. With production starting in full at the start of next year - not counting the football game they recently filmed in Los Angeles - and hopefully we'll be hearing more casting reports soon so that we can get a better idea of exactly what we can expect from the film. For a full roundup of all news and rumors, head over HERE.